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I’ve spent the day thinking about what Roy must have felt like being expelled from the Comintern for arguing, in part, that it was possible for British colonialism to end without a revolution; that the British bourgeoisie would settle accounts with the Indian bourgeoisie and set them up as rulers; that the new arrangement would not mean a massive change in the social structure in India, but would rather help British capitalism restore itself after the crisis it faced after WWI; that Indian Communists should work inside the Congress Party and move its base to the left and chase the capitalists out (he got that last one wrong) … that he saw all of that in 1928, and had the misfortune of presenting that argument at the Sixth Congress of the Comintern right as the Russian Communist Party was licking its wounds over the massive debacle (to put it lightly) of how it dealt with the Kuomintang and the massacre of the Chinese Communists; that he was a casualty of the retrenchment that happened after 1928 only to have the Comintern reverse its position in 1935. What it must have felt like to have helped to establish the Mexican Communist Party, debated with and convinced Lenin on the national question, gone to Germany and worked with the SpartakistBund, been the Comintern envoy in China, set up a base in Tashkent to train Indian Communists (largely Muslims) … and then be expelled by the Comintern … and then be proven right. Manjapra’s book does an excellent job making sense of all of this.

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For folks coming to my talk on “the politics of Afro-pessimism” — a list of things that I have been reading in preparation. (I will keep updating this list as we get closer to the conference) … and in case it’s not clear: the talk is designed to be critical of the theories calling themselves afro-pessimist.

Eudell, Demetrius L. “‘Come on Kid, Let’s Go Get the Thing’: The Sociogenic Principle and the Being of Being Black/Human.” Sylvia Wynter: On Being Human as Praxis. Ed. Katherine McKittrick. Durham: Duke University Press, 2015. 226-48. Print.

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I will be updating this page frequently. A number of people have asked for a clearinghouse of resources about the events at JNU in Delhi. If you have resources that you believe should be included, please do send them to me. A solidarity statement from students and faculty at the University of Texas, Austin is forthcoming.

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The national conversation about police violence that has followed in the wake of the protests in Ferguson, MO has important ramifications here in Austin, TX. As many of you know, in July of 2013, Larry Jackson, Jr. an unarmed African-American man, was shot and killed by Detective Charles Kleinert of the Austin Police Department. Because of the work of activists across the city, we were able to pressure the District Attorney’s office and ensure that Kleinert, unlike so many police officers across the country, was actually indicted.

That indictment is now in jeopardy. Kleinert’s lawyers are attempting to argue that his case should go to federal court rather than county court because at the time of the shooting Kleinert claims to have been working for federal law enforcement. If he succeeds in that claim, it is very likely that he will receive federal immunity and will not face any punishment for killing Larry Jackson, Jr. This is essentially an attempt to dial back the work that has happened here in Austin and reproduce the national pattern of getting police officers off on legal technicalities.

The People’s Task Force is calling for a day of action on March 3, 2015, the day that Kleinert’s petition to move his trial to federal court will be heard by Judge Lee Yeakel. We believe that organizing the largest possible protest will make a difference, not only in the case but also in deepening the attention on questions of race and law enforcement here in Austin. We will be gathering at 7pm outside the federal courthouse (501 W 5th St). It is likely that a decision will be released by that point in the day, but we still feel that it will be important to make sure that everyone in Austin knows and pays attention to what happens.